


A Train from Penzance

by AncientMonument



Category: Holby City
Genre: Future Fic, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-28
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-12 13:42:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29760522
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AncientMonument/pseuds/AncientMonument
Summary: A take on Serena's future after she left Holby and moved to Cornwall.  Canon compliant, unfortunately.Will be in chapters.
Comments: 7
Kudos: 9





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This idea and I have had several face-offs since it dropped into my brain's inbox last autumn. No amount of wrestling with it has got it into a one-shot form I am happy with. At the same time it simply will not leave me alone, so for the sake of my own sanity I am going to post it in chapters, probably three, which will be from different POVs. I'm still faffing about with it so there may be more chapters or fewer, who knows?.

Todd Joseph Jason Haynes-Welland is very happy. It is Friday and Mummy has just met him at the school gates. It is the beginning of his first ever half-term holiday. Todd has been going to big school for seven whole weeks and he loves it. His favourite part of school is the Friday afternoon games in the gym with music and the big screen and all the wonderful things to jump over and run round, but today he just wanted it to be half past two so he could meet Mummy and start half term. School has finally finished and now he and Mummy are walking to the park to meet Auntie Serena. 

“Tell me about it again Mummy,” he begs.

“We are going on holiday to Holby tomorrow to see Grandad Jason,” Mummy says.

“And we’re going on the train!” Todd can’t help shouting, it is too exciting. “And we’re going at ten o’clock! And we’re going to stay with Auntie Charlotte because Grandad Jason hasn’t got any spare bedrooms. And Auntie Charlotte will take me to the super big park in Holby so I can go on the special big boat-swings, and I’ll take Murphy for a walk on his lead! And we’ll see Auntie Donna and Uncle Adrian and Auntie Evie, and we’ll go into Bristol for the day and see the – what will we see again?”

“The Clifton Suspension Bridge. Grandad is going to tell us all about it. “

“Yes, that’s it. I’m taking my binoculars. Me and Grandad are going to look at things on the bridge.”

“That’s right. Oh look, there’s the bus. Auntie Serena should be on that one.”

Todd stares as the bus pulls in a little further on. He watches as Auntie Serena gets down carefully. The bus driver hands down her wheely, as Todd calls it.

“Auntie Serena! Auntie Serena!” he yells. 

Auntie Serena waves at him.

“Don’t run at her Todd,” warns Mummy. “Remember, we have to help Auntie Serena not to fall over.”

“Can I run if I remember to stop?” he asks.

Mummy laughs.

“Go on then.”

Todd runs as fast as he can. Auntie Serena is his favourite ever person, apart from Mummy and Daddy of course. She is coming to Holby on the train with them. Todd is looking forward to everything about the holiday, but the very best thing is not having to leave Auntie Serena behind. When they went to the beach on the aeroplane in June Auntie Serena said eighty-three was too old to fly and she was going to go to a place called Respite while they were away. Todd didn't like that. It seems eighty-three isn’t too old to go on a train though. Todd is going to sit beside her tomorrow and help her with her things. 

“Hello Auntie Serena!”

“Hello there my star pupil! How was school?”

“Well we were busy with our Halloween project. Miss Kirby gave us all pumpkin faces to colour so we had masks for circle time, and Grace Irwin spilt her juice over hers and Jack Beer laughed at her so Miss Kirby said –“

Todd tells her the whole story of Grace's pumpkin mask, so by the time Auntie Serena sits down on her favourite seat by the swings he is satisfied she knows everything about what happened in Junior Infants that day. Mummy gives him a push to start him off, then he leans back on the swing and stretches his legs out and begins to fly.

“Auntie Serena! Look! Look!”


	2. Chapter 2

Fleur is concerned. Okay, her ex-colleague still has her usual slightly sarcastic manner, but she has lost weight and is very pale. She is a little unsteady on her feet too, Fleur sees she is leaning heavily on the passenger door. She thinks for a moment. She knows Serena will get at best defensive and at worst furious if Fleur draws attention to her weakness, and frankly she doesn’t think Serena has the energy for anger at the moment. She decides to wait for Serena to recover from getting out of the car. She surveys the surroundings while she waits.

“Well, this is picturesque. Very “Frenchman’s Creek.” Have any attractive buccaneers of either sex come sailing up on the evening tide?”

“I wouldn’t have had the time to take proper advantage of them if they had,” wheezes Serena. “Been far too busy.” She lets go of the door then grabs it again immediately. “Oh for god’s sake Fleur, give me an arm. I’ll never get up that bloody path otherwise. And none of your awful jokes please.”

Two hours later Serena’s hospital bag is unpacked and her laundry is whizzing round in the washing machine. The window into the back garden is open and bees can be heard. They have had sandwiches and tea for lunch. Serena is sitting in an armchair with her feet up and her eyes shut. Fleur finishes putting the lunch things into the dishwasher . She returns to the sitting room, sits opposite Serena and contemplates her friend. She has never seen Serena looking so spent. She intends to stay as long as she can get away with doing so. Fleur recognised years ago that Serena would never see her as a potential romantic partner, but that doesn’t stop her caring very deeply for her friend.

“I’m very grateful to you for driving down to my rescue, but I can feel you looking at me,” says Serena without opening her eyes. “What are you thinking?”

I’m thinking how exhausted you look, thinks Fleur. I’m thinking that you have worked yourself into the ground. I’m thinking that here you are in Cornwall a hundred and eighty miles away from Holby with nobody to care for you.

“I’m wondering about what’s been happening since you did that flit from Holby. Until your boss phoned last week I’d barely heard from you in fifteen months.”

“It was the pandemic,” says Serena, still with her eyes closed. “It changed everything. I fetched up here and fell in love with the house. It was available to let for a few months as it was January. I had a lovely three or four weeks doing nothing but walking and reading and knitting, and then crash, bang, wallop along comes bloody Covid. As soon as I realised how bad things were going to get I went straight to Truro and offered my services at the hospital.”

“Lucky Truro,” says Fleur. 

Serena sighs. Fleur wonders if she is rolling her eyes behind their lids.

“You know the rest,” Serena says. “From what I’ve heard from Jason it was pretty similar in Holby, just a hellish year of unrelenting slog. We were all vaccinated of course, but I was scared all the same when I got ill.”

“It must have been a relief when you tested negative,” prompts Fleur.

“Oh, it was,” says Serena. “Not that pneumonia is any picnic. I’ve never felt so bad. At least labour finishes”

“What are your plans for when you’ve convalesced?” asks Fleur.

“I’m going to move,” says Serena. “They’ll want the house back as soon as they can start holiday lets again. I don’t want to stay here in Helford, it’ll be a bit too quiet when I’m better. I sold the house in Holby months ago and I want to buy now. I was thinking of going further down, maybe towards Penzance.”

“You’ve definitely got a pirates thing going on,” says Fleur. “Would you like some help with viewings and things? I’ve accrued loads of leave. I can pop down for a few days here and there and help you look.”

“Thank you. I’d like that.” Serena settles comfortably in her chair. She folds her hands over her tummy and Fleur feels a pang at how much older Serena looks from when she left Holby. 

“What do think you’ll do when you’ve moved?” asks Fleur.

Serena opens her eyes at last.

“I’m not going to _do_ anything,” she says. “My _doing_ days are done.”

Joe is busy in the garden. He is playing at roadworks with his trucks. Mum is talking across the hedge to Ms. Campbell next door. He is at an important time in his game, he is moving a truck full of stones across the path. He isn’t happy when Mum calls him over. 

“Come over here and say hello Joey,” says Mum. “Look at you, you’re all over mud. And take that sulky look off your face young man.”

“Hello Joe,” smiles Ms Campbell. “There’s someone I’d like you to meet.”

Despite himself Joe beams back. He likes Ms Campbell, her smile is so lovely.

“This is Guinevere,” says Ms. Campbell. “She’s staying with me on holiday for a few days. Guinevere, this is Joe. He’s four too. He lives next door. Are you going to say hello?”

“Hello,” says a girl with brown hair and pink glasses who is standing next to Ms. Campbell. “This is my mummy. And this is my daddy.”

She points to a lady with long hair and a man who has glasses too. The man looks at him for a long time. The lady does not smile. Joe feels a bit strange and it isn’t nice. He moves closer to Mum.

“Ms. Campbell is having a party tomorrow. She’s invited me and you and Dad.”

“It’ll be in the garden,” says Ms. Campbell. “We’ll put the paddling pool up, so bring your trunks. There’ll be ice cream too.”

“And raspberries,” says Guinevere. “Auntie Serena’s got raspberries in the fridge. And juice.”

Guinevere’s mum looks at her phone.

“It’s four o’clock Guinevere. I have to put more sun cream on you. Come indoors.” 

Guinevere and her mum go towards Ms Campbell’s house.

“We hope you’ll come, don’t we Auntie Serena,” says Guinevere’s dad. “We thought Guinevere and Joe might make friends.”

“What do you think, Joe?” asks Mum, kneeling down to him. “Would you like to go on a play date with Guinevere?”

Ms Campbell leans over the hedge and smiles at Joe. He knows it’s especially for him.

“And even if you find you don’t want another play date together at least you’ll have had lots of ice cream.”

She winks at him. Joe thinks for a minute. His mum and Dad will be there, and it does sound exciting. He smiles back at her and nods his head.

Charlotte is livid with rage. She drives on through the rain, going over and over what she is going to say when she finally gets there. Where is this bloody place? She’s passed the signs to Marazion, but she can’t see a thing in these conditions. The satnav tells her to turn back. Charlotte growls in frustration and looks for a safe place to turn the car round. When she gets to that Campbell woman’s house she is going to give her a very large piece of her mind. The satnav directs her to take the next left. She forces herself to drive carefully. She sees a row of white houses and slows down. At the end of the row she sees the name of the house, “Ambleside”. There is a small parking area opposite which she pulls into. As soon as she opens the car door the wind and rain hit her, making her feel even more enraged. She slams the door and presses the key fob to lock the car. After a brief struggle with “Ambleside”’s gate she marches up the garden path, head bent against the rain, and thumps at the front door. After a few moments the door opens a few inches and part of a face appears behind the chain. She can see it belongs to a woman, but she has only met her target once, at Christmas seven years ago, and she can’t quite see enough of the face to see if it is her or not.

“Serena Campbell?” She snaps.

“Yes. Do I know you?”

“You don’t recognise me. Of course you don’t. I’m Charlotte Dunn, Berenice Wolfe’s daughter. I need to talk to you. There are things you need to hear.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Looks like it's going to be four chapters.
> 
> I intend no offence at all to Helford and apologise if any is taken.

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own the Holby characters or storylines. This fic was written for entertainment only. No payment has been sought or received from any source.  
> This story takes place over a period of nearly three decades into the future. I have made no attempt at all to imagine what may happen in terms of technology during this time as it is not something I could write about with any competence. While this is a future fic it is not futuristic.


End file.
